UNLIMITED GRACE OF GOD
MATTHEW 20:1-16
INTRO
TURN TO MATTHEW 20:1-16
THIS MORNING WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT BEING FAIR AND JUST. BUT I THINK IF WE LOOK AT IT THROUGH THE EYES OF THE LORD, I THINK WE MIGHT CHANGE OUR VIEW OR POSITION.
WERE GOING TO LOOK AT THE VINEYARD OWNER AND THE VINEYARD WORKERS, AND HOW THE OWNER TREATS HIS WORKERS.
ILLUSTRATION-
REMEMBER BACK IN DECEMBER, THE NEWLY CROWNED MISS AMERICA TARA CONNERS GOT INTO TROUBLE FOR UNDERAGE DRINKING AND SEXUAL MISCONDUCT.
I AM SURE THAT THE RUNNER UP THOUGHT THAT SHE WAS GOING TO BE CROWNED THE NEW MISS AMERICA.
DONALD TRUMP STEPS IN AND ANNOUNCES THAT TARA WAS GOING TO BE GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE.
HOW COULD DONALD TRUMP PARDON HER- BECAUSE HE OWNS THE CONTEST, BECAUSE IT IS HIS RIGHT TO DO WHAT HE WANTS TO WITHIN THAT ORGANIZATION.
PSALM 50:9-12- GOD SAID- “I HAVE NO NEED OF A BULL FROM YOUR STALL, OR A GOAT FROM YOUR PENS, FOR EVERY ANIMAL OF THE FORREST IS MINE, AND THE CATTLE ON A THOUSAND HILLS, I KNOW EVERY BIRD IN THE MOUNTAINS, AND THE CREATURES OF THE FIELDS ARE MINE.
I AM NOT COMPARING TRUMP TO GOD, BUT I WANT YOU TO SEE AS WE ARE LOOKING AT THIS PASSAGE THAT GOD IS GOD, AND HE CAN DO AS HE SEES FIT, EVEN IF IT DOES NOT SEEM FAIR TO US.
READ MATTHEW 20:1-16
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS EXACTLY THAT, THE KINGDOM OF GOD. AS ILLUSTRATED IN THIS PARABLE, THE LANDOWNER GOES OUT TO GET WORKERS FOR HIS FIELD...HIS VINEYARD.
SOME OF US COME FROM ALL KINDS OF WALKS OF LIFE, SOME OF US HAVE SERVED GOD FOR 50 YEARS AND SOME OF US IT IS NOT EVEN A YEAR.
SOME BELIEVE THAT WHAT THEY HAVE CAME FROM GOD AND SHOULD BE USED FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD, AND SOME FEEL EVERYTHING IS MINE, GOD HAS PLENTY OF HIS OWN.
LETS SEE THE BACKGROUND OF THIS PARABLE:
MEN WOULD COME EARLY 6 A.M. TO THE MARKETPLACE FOR WORK, IT WAS LIKE THE TEMP SERVICE OR JOB AGENCY.
THE OWNERS WOULD COME EARLY AND PICK FROM THESE MEN TO WORK
SLAVES AND SERVANTS WERE AT LEAST ASSOCIATED WITH A FAMILY, BUT THESE MEN (LABORERS) IF THEY DID NOT GET WORK, THEY WERE PROBABLY NOT GOING TO FEED THEIR FAMILY THAT DAY.
END OF SEPTEMBER IN PALESTINE WAS THE GRAPE HARVEST, THEY WOULD GATHER GRAPES BEFORE THE FALL RAIN WOULD RUIN THE CROP.
THE OWNER OF THE VINEYARD WAS FRANTIC, THEY DID NOT WANT TO LOSE THE GRAPES
THE WORKERS AGREED TO ONE DENARIUS A DAY FOR THEIR PAY.
I’LL TAKE YOU, YOU, YOU, UNTIL THEY THOUGHT THEY HAD ENOUGH HELP.
A DAY FOR A JEWISH PERSON WAS 6 A.M. UNTIL 6 P.M.- THESE GUYS AGREED THAT THEY WERE GOING TO WORK THAT LONG.
ONE DENARIUS IS EQUIVALENT TO OUR PENNY, BUT BACK THEN THAT WAS A GOOD WAGE. A ROMAN SOLDIER WAS PAID A DENARIUS A DAY, SO FOR THEM TO GET WHAT A SOLDIER WAS GETTING WAS FAIR.
KEEPING IN MIND HIS FIELD, THE OWNER RETURNED THREE HOURS LATTER TO GET SOME MORE MEN, 6 HOURS LATTER, 11 HOURS LATTER, WANTING TO MAKE SURE H IS FIELD IS COMPLETED.
THE FIRST GROUP AGREES ON A PRICE, ALL THE OTHERS AGREED TO WHAT WAS FAIR.
THEY MUST OF TRUSTED THE OWNER FROM PREVIOUS EXPERIENCES.
AT THE END OF THE DAY IT IS TIME TO PAY UP. DURING THAT TIME, IT WAS SIN FOR A BOSS TO HOLD A MANS WAGES, SO EVERYDAY THEY WERE PAID WHAT WAS DUE THEM.
THE OWNER TELLS THE FOREMEN, PAY THEM FROM THE LAST HIRED TO THE FIRST HIRED. THIS SEEMS A LITTLE BIT ODD.
ONES THAT WORKED 1 HOUR- ONE DENARIUS
ONES THAT WORKED THREE HOURS - ONE DENARIUS
ONES THAT WORKED 6 HOURS- ONE DENARIUS
AND THEN IT CAME TO THE ONES THAT HAD WORKED ALL DAY...THEY WERE EXPECTING TO BE PAID MORE BECAUSE THEY WERE THERE ALL DAY. THEY WERE PAID ONE DENARIUS.
V 11 READ- THE WORKERS COMPLAIN
V12- READ - THE OWNER RESPONDS
DOESN’T GOD (OWNER OF VINEYARD) HAVE A RIGHT TO DO AS HE SEES FIT?
HE IS GOD, HE IS THE OWNER OF THE FIELD WE CALL THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
I WANT YOU TO SEE HOW GOD’S GRACE WORKS- WRITE THESE THINGS DOWN
“GRACE ENCOUNTERS” WHEN GOD SHOWS UP AND WORKS ON OUR BEHALF
DEFINITION OF GRACE- COLLEGE- “UNMERITED FAVOR”
PARAPHRASED- GIVING SOMETHING THAT YOU AND I DON’T DESERVE.
GRACE IS GIVEN BY GOD, ACCEPTED BY GOD’S PEOPLE...IT IS NOT SOMETHING WE CAN EARN, IT IS A GIFT.
EPHESIANS 2:9-10-
‘FOR IT IS BY GRACE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED, THROUGH FAITH, AND NOT FROM YOURSELVES, IT IS A GIFT OF GOD, NOT BY WORKS, SO NO MAN CAN BOAST.”
WHAT IS SO AMAZING ABOUT GRACE?
WE DO NOT DESERVE IT
PHILLIP YANCEY’S BOOK- “WHAT’S SO AMAZING ABOUT GRACE” POINTS OUT THAT GRACE IS HARD TO BELIEVE, HARD TO ACCEPT, AND HARD TO RECEIVE.
GRACE TEACHES US THAT GOD DOES FOR OTHERS WHAT WE WOULD NEVER DO
WE WOULD SAVE THE NOT-SO BAD, THE GOOD PEOPLE
GRACE COST GOD EVERYTHING, COST US NOTHING, IT IS GIVEN TO US WHEN WE DON’T DESERVE IT, BARELY RECOGNIZE IT, AND MOST TIMES DON’T APPRECIATE IT.
GRACE MEANS NO ONE IS TO BAD TO BE SAVED, GOD SPECIALIZES IN BAD PEOPLE.
FEAR NOT, GOD KNOWS ABOUT IT, AND HIS GRACE IS GREATER THAN OUR SIN
GRACE ALSO MEANS SOME PEOPLE ARE TO GOOD TO RECEIVE IT., THEY SEEM TO THINK SO HIGH OF THEMSELVES THAT THEY DON’T NEED IT.
GOD’S GRACE CANNOT KEEP YOU UNTIL YOU ARE DESPERATE ENOUGH TO RECEIVE IT.
WE GET PAID ON EARTH FOR OUR LABORS, WE GET REWARDS IN HEAVEN BY OUR LOVING GOD.
IT IS EASY SOMETIMES TO BE JEALOUS, TO FEEL LIKE WE ARE BEING RIPPED OFF, AND MAYBE SOMETIMES WE ARE- BUT ONE DAY THE LORD WILL MAKE IT RIGHT.
THE LORD WILL PAY THE WORKERS IN HIS KINGDOM- AND THE PAY IS BETTER THAN ANYTHING WE CAN IMAGINE.
HEAVEN WILL BE FAR BETTER THAN ANYTHING OFFERED IN THIS LIFE.
DONALD TRUMP EAT YOUR HEART OUT -OWNER OF MORE THAN 12 MILLION SQUARE FEET OF MANHATTAN, ONE DAY THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE WILL REWARD HIS PEOPLE.
1 COR. 2:9- “HOWEVER, AS IT IS WRITTEN, NO EYES HAVE SEEN, NO EAR HAS HEARD, NO MIND CONCEIVE, WHAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM”.
2 COR. 4:17-18- “FOR OUR LIGHT AND MOMENTARY TROUBLES ARE ACHIEVING FOR US AN ETERNAL GLORY THAT FAR OUTWEIGHS THEM ALL”.
HALELUIAH
OUR PAYOFF WILL BE WORTH EVERYTHING WE HAVE DONE IN THIS LIFE FOR THE LORD, BUT WE MUST REMEMBER THAT THE PAYOFF IS NOT BECAUSE OF THE HARD WORK, IT IS BECAUSE OF THE LORD.
WE WORK BECAUSE WE LOVE GOD, NOT WORK FOR HEAVEN.
CLOSING:
LET’S NOT LOSE SIGHT OR BE JEALOUS OF NEWCOMERS, OR LATE COMERS, GOD IS GRACIOUS AND COMPASSIONATE-
LET’S BE THANKFUL WE GET WHAT WE DON’T DESERVE.
GRACE MAKES US EQUAL TO EVERYONE ELSE- THE WORKERS COMPLAINED V 12- NOT BECAUSE OF THEIR WAGES, THEY KNEW THAT WAS FAIR, THEY WERE UPSET BECAUSE THEY WEREN’T PAID MORE THAN SOMEONE ELSE.
THE GRUMBLES WERE UPSET THAT THE NEW COMERS WERE RECEIVING WHAT THEY GOT, CRITICIZING AND COMPARING THEMSELVES TO THE NEW ONES.
STOP COMPARING YOURSELF TO ANYONE- LET THE LORD SPEAK TO YOU
WE WANT THE GRACE FOR OURSELVES, BUT DON’T WANT TO GIVE IT TO OTHERS.
LETS CUT SOME PEOPLE SOME SLACK-
OUR SIN DOESN’T SMELL BETTER THAN ANYBODY ELSE’S
GOD’S GRACE OFFERS A FRESH START- IT’S NEW BEGINNINGS
HOW DO YOU FIND GRACE- ASK FO IT
HOLD OUT EMPTY HANDS AND ASK GOD FOR IT
“AMAZING GRACE HOW SWEET THE SOUND, THAT SAVED A WRETCH LIKE ME, I ONCE WAS LOST, BUT NOW I AM FOUND, WAS BLIND BUT NOW I SEE.”
ALTAR CALL
